Violent Love
by marie05
Summary: Discontinued for the moment. I simply don't have enough time to keep up a longer story right now. Sorry.
1. Chapter 1

A/N This starts sometime in season 3 of BTVS

**Chapter 1**

Shoes. . .

Her mom thought that she spent an abmornal amount of money on shoes and her mom was right, she did. Demon goo just didn't come out of shoes. Sometimes she was lucky and it did come out of her clothes and sometimes her once beautiful outfits ended up deep in the trash . . . along with her shoes. Thankfully, today, she had been wearing her designated demon slaying shoes (tennis shoes from Payless, 5 dollar on sale. Yea!).

Angel looked at her curiously. Buffy was lying flat on her back in the middle of the graveyard. He could tell that she wasn't hurt, "Buffy?" He whispered her name quietly trying not to surprise her so much that she attacked him.

She sighed. She had known this moment of silence wouldn't last long, and even though it was Angel interrupting she was still sad to see the quiet go, "Hmm?"

He laid in the grass beside her, but didn't quite touch her, "What'cha thinkin' 'bout?"

She smiled dreamily, "shoes."

He caught her hand in his and squeezed it tightly. Not quite sure about her thought process he questioned further, "What about shoes?"

She sighed again, "I always have to throw them away." Than before he could ask anything more, before she felt compelled to tell him the whole truth of what she was thinking, she stood up and ran.

He met up with her later that night. She was curled up around a pillow on her bed and crying silently. He slid through her window and curled around her protectively. "Buffy, whatever it is, it'll be okay."

"Angel," she whispered than began to cry even harder. Angel tightened his hold on her.

When she had finally cried herself out, she rolled over so they were touching foreheads. "If everybody in the world knew would it be easier?" She paused than added, "Or harder? Would normal people be an asset or a hindrance?"

"Truly, Buffy?" He paused a moment as if waiting for her to say no, "I don't know. Does it even matter, we can't change denial."

"I know. Really that's not even what I'm thinking about. My mom was on me about grades again. I like to learn, really, I just don't have time. Just staying alive takes up the majority of my week, schoolwork just isn't that important." He stroked her hair and waited patiently for her to get to the real thing that was upsetting her.

"I'm going to die." She said it matter of factly, "Not like last time. Not for a few seconds and someone brings me back to life," she hushed him before he could argue with her, "Maybe tomorrow, maybe not. Maybe a year from now. Maybe not. But I am going to die, and sooner than most people think. Everyone, even you, is in denial, but I know. Sometimes I see it in my dreams. I'm a slayer. Slayers die. I'll die." Again she hushed him before he could make any type of protest. "I'm not going to graduate from college. I'm not going to have a husband or kids. I'm not!" Buffy kissed him lightly on the lips, "But it's okay. I've figured it out, that's why fate sent you to Sunnydale, to me. At least when I die I'll have loved, have been held in the arms of my soulmate."

There kiss deepened and they held each other tightly promising themselves that they wouldn't be the ones to let go.

* * *

Very far away and yet very close two beings discussed the warriors.

"She is very wise."

"Yes. But he is not. He will not stay. We know this."

"I do not believe this. In their hearts, where even we cannot see, cannot touch, they will always be together. No one can predict the future they, we, can only see the points at which choices are made."

"And in their future? What choices do we see? None. We see blood. Only blood."

"Blood comes from the heart does it not?"

Again the hall fell into silence.

* * *

Deep within the ether of everything Good trembled in fear.

* * *

Buffy and Angel both felt the tremors and both of them wondered if the other felt it too. Neither of them mentioned it, but both would remember it. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Five years after her battle with The First Buffy returned to the place where her home had stood. In the middle of the crater a long figure (tall, dark, handsome—you know the type) stood waiting for her approach. "Buffy."

"Angel." Briefly she wondered if they had ever just said hi to each other instead of this ritualistic calling of each others names. "Giles and Willow say something big is happening. Not hellmouth big, but world big, universe big. Do you know anything about it?" She sounded somewhat caustic.

Angel shrugged, he had become use to the harshness that was now Buffy, "Just that it's called the End of Days."

"Oh." It was silent, and knowing Angel wouldn't be the one to break it she spoke again, "Wasn't there some prophecy about you and a shoeshine after the battle at the End of Days?" She glanced at his shoes and smiled mischievously.

Angel didn't bother to correct her; he knew that she preffered everyone to underestimate her wit. What he had never understood was why any one ever believed it, "Yea." He took a deep breathe, which she knew was his way of stalling, "but that's not why I'm fight, not anymore." He looked pointedly at her.

"If you're not fighting for redemption, what are you fighting for?"

"At one time, I would have said you, but not anymore," Buffy was slightly disappointed and it must have shown, because he quickly continued, "I'd way that I'm fighting now because it's the right thing to do. I can help people, so I do. You taught me that you know. When you first came to Sunnydale, you didn't want to fight, you wanted to be a cheerleader and you wanted to have a boyfriend and you wanted to skate. But you didn't want people to die either. So you stood up and took your place between them and the rest of the world. You knew you could, so you did."

Buffy nodded her head in understanding, "You think it's going to happen in L.A?"

Angel nodded his head.

"The scoob's are flying in tomorrow afternoon. I tried to tell them that you might not welcome our interference, but they insisted." She shrugged, knowing that he would understand.

"I asked for help before and you didn't. Andrew told me it was because you didn't want to help an evil law firm, or their evil boss."

Buffy's eyes reflected his sadness, "I'm sorry. I didn't know. If you heard it from Andrew than it was probably from the council, not me. I would have flown here and helped in a heart beat, even less than a heartbeat."

"Illyria and I were the only survivors, and she died a month after." He looked so sad, all of his friends dead. Buffy stepped closer and pulled him into her arms. For once she was the protector, shielding her lover from the harsh reality of their lives.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

They stood together at the airport waiting for the scoobies to land. When Buffy saw them she grabbed Angel's hand and he squeezed it tightly for reassurance, whether his or hers she didn't know.

The friendships she had forged with these people were unbreakable, they were forever, but overtime, over distance, the tightness had lessened. They no longer shared each other's lives, they had all become individuals.

Willow was the first to come running from the terminals, behind her, Xander, and last but never least was Giles.

"Buffy!" Willow hugged Buffy in greeting, she hadn't seen her best friend in over a year because Will had been in Australia studying with the aborigines.

"Hi Will!"

"Buffster!" She hugged him briefly than turned towards Giles.

"Hello Buffy. How are you?"

She hugged him and stepped back beside angel, "I'm so glad you're all here!"

They returned to the Hyperion and everyone looked to Angel in askance, they had expected to go to the Wolfram and Hard headquarters. Angel explained, "The W and H building got burnt down by a dragon." He looked sheepish and added, "while I was kind . . . of . . . riding it"

"Good lord," Giles took off his glasses, cleaned them, than put them back on, "You actually rode a. . . . a dragon?"

"Yea. It's, I believe, the reason I lived and nobody else did," Angel thought Giles looked a little guilty at the statement and he wondered why. Angel waved towards one of the staircases, "I cleaned out some rooms in that wing," he motioned to the other staircase, "My room, and Buffy's, are in that wing."

Xander stopped at the bottom of the stairs, "separate rooms, right?"

Angel growled and Buffy glared at Xanded. Putting her arms across her chest, "We're not going to have sex Xander! We are not stupid!"

After stomping off to her room Buffy climbed out of her 2nd story room. She walked to the area where she had lived pre-Sunnydale. From there she headed to the cemetery where she had slayed her first vampire. She didn't remember much about that night, mostly, just the intense fear. She smirked at the memory of that first hungry vampire she had run into; today vampires were a cake walk. Push stake in heart, pull stake out. Dust-o-rama. Repeat. But that 1st fight could easily have been her last.

Her moves were elegant. Both precise and beautiful. She had finally grown to accept the part of her that was the slayer. She was working out a little anger on the two fledgling. Angel couldn't help but smile at his woman. She was truly a magnificent being. Predator, victim, friend, lover . . . He stepped into the settling dust of the two vampires, "Buffy."

"Angel."

He shrugged his shoulders and she knew that he wanted to say something, but he didn't. She wondered why.

They stood still and stared at each other.

"Buffy. I—"

She interrupted, "shh. . . I have to say something first. It's important, so . . . just listen, please?"

When he nodded she continued, "Do you remember the 1st time I visited you in LA? You're office was attacked by a Mohra demon. Do you remember the ice cream? I do. I know I wasn't supposed to. When I was dead? In heaven? That was part of my peace, part of my happiness. I was in heaven—and I could see everything—all the future and all the past. Before I die I want to love you again. Without the bitterness, without the anger. When I go out this time I don't wan to feel anything but love."

"You won't die Buffy."

"Everything, remember?" She smiled sadly, it seemed to be the only where she ever smiled anymore, "I will die, angel. I will. Not tomorrow, Maybe at the End of Days. I don't know exactly when. Soon. Later. I am mortal. Mortals do die."

"Buffy—"

"No Angel. Don't deny it. Just accept it, please. Allow us to love each other for the time we do have left, but first we have to get rid of this pain, this hurt that we've caused each other."

"Buffy I—"

"Sorry, I keep interrupting. I complain a lot. Most of our conversations revolve around me and my pain. And while, yea, I've been hurt a lot, so have you. And you don't have friends to talk to anymore. So you should go first." Buffy looked up at him expectantly.

"Do we have to do this in a cemetery though?" Angel really didn't want to tell her about his pain, how he had been hurt. He was used to keeping it to himself; he was also afraid that she would leave.

"But I am she-who-hangs-out-in-cemeteries! I love cemeteries!"

"Sarcasm becomes you." Angel smirked as he led her back out onto the street.

"It does doesn't it?"


	4. Chapter 4

A/N I just read through the last 3 chapters and realized how many typos I didn't catch while proofreading. And While I'm not going to go back and fix those I will try to look closer at the upcoming chapters.

**Chapter 4**

_The world was made of dark and fire. Survivors walked across the ashes and coal flinching from the heat radiating from the ground beneath their feet. Buffy stood on the moon and looked down at the place she was supposed to protect. In the crater that was Sunnydale her tombstone was the only thing that remained standing. Vines grew around it reaching fora sun that no longer existed. Soon they would die. Soon everything would die. Angel stood in front of her tombstone, holding a dozen roses. _

_Buffy stood beside him. _

_He was no longer Angel. He was everyone she had ever known._

_They were in her bedroom and he was holding Mr. Gordo. And he was her Mom. _

"_Violence will never solve anything."_

_And she was fighting. Fighting her. Fighting him. Fighting everyone she had ever known. _

_She was in her coffin screaming._

_She was making love to Angel. _

_The moon exploded. Light shattered the darkness. _

Buffy woke, breathing hard. She was in her room in Angel's hotel. She pulled her knees into her body and cried.

Angel found her still in that position the coming morning. Last night had been hard for them both. Sharing the bitterness that they had developed may not have been the best idea. Both had gone to sleep quiet and sullen, angry at the other's accusations.

Buffy looked up from her knees. Her eyes and nose puffy with tears. "Angel."

"Buffy."

"You really thought that?"

"I didn't mean to, but it was always there in the back of my mind."

"I never loved them Angel. I tried to. God help me, I tried so hard. But I couldn't. I loved you. I'm sorry you felt betrayed. I didn't mean to forget."

He stood just barely in the room, ready to leave if she asked him to. She had every right after what he had told her last night. How he had felt betrayed by her loving Riley, loving Spike. How he had hurt when she hadn't trusted him to take care of Faith. And so much more pain that he hadn't even known he felt until he told her. And she had let him tell her, she hadn't yelled back or ran away. She had sat there and listened. And when he had finished she had asked his forgiveness. **_His._** He had never given forgiveness before, no one had asked that of the vampire, for he had never deserved to be on that side of mercy. And he had remained quiet, not knowing what to say. She had sat in the silence for what seemed forever. And than she had smiled and finally she spoke, "Maybe sometime soon? I guess it's my turn, now, huh?"

She had yelled at him. She had cried to him. She spoke softly now telling the story of pain caused by love. And he was guilty of all of it, she did not hold Angelus against him, the deeds she told him of were the ones that he, with a soul, had done to her. And he was sorry. And he told her so. And she said to him, "I know. You always were. But you did it anyway."

And they had left to their separate bedrooms. And they had cried.

Buffy spoke interrupting Angels thoughts of yesterday, "I had a dream last night. Do you remember when I came to your apartment and told you about my dream and you told me that it didn't mean anything? This dream felt the same way. So real. And it was bad Angel, really bad."

"Do you want to tell the others about it?"

"Not really." She looked sheepishly at him, "I'd rather not tell anybody, including you, just yet." She shrugged, "You can leave now," she gestured at her state of dress.

Angel smiled, "Not like there's anything I haven't seen before."

Buffy glared at him and he quickly left.

* * *

Buffy bounded through the doors with two pizza boxes in her hands, "So what have we figured out so far?"

Willow looked up from her laptop, "Umm . . ."

Xander contributed proudly, "It's called the End of Days."

Giles clearly wanted to hit Xander, but refrained and instead said, "We really haven't figured out much as of yet. We've found several references in almost every prophetical book we have, but none of them say anything other than its name."

Buffy placed the pizzas on the coffee table, "So, basically, what Xander said."

Giles glared at her, "Yes."

Angel came in from the basement, "I got a couple more books for you, but I don't think they'll say anything differently."

Giles tried to look optimistic, failing severely as he said, "Well, we must try anyways mustn't we?"

* * *

"Nothing. Goddamn nothing." Giles through the ancient books down on the table showing as little respect for them as his high-schoolers once had.

"Maybe tomorrow Giles. Maybe we'll find something new tomorrow." Buffy touched him lightly on the shoulder, trying to comfort him. They were the only two left in the room, Xander and Willow having gone to explore the great LA and Angel having left to patrol.

He sighed, "I'd doubt it Buffy. I'm beginning to doubt that we'll find anything in books. I think this will be one of those apocalypses we have to figure out without the guidance of ancient prophecies."

"That's okay. At least they don't say I'm going to die. That's always a good sign. Right?"

Giles looked sadly at her. "Right." It was in the same voice that he had told her that growing up was terribly easy to do and that all bad guys wore black hats and that all good guys wore white hats. She had called him a liar than. She just stared back silently at him this time.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Don't you think it's weird?" Buffy broke the silence as they wandered scoobies wandered through the cemetery.

"What's weird?"

"This," she waved her hand, still holding a stake, across the cemetery, "Like, usually, before an apocalypse there's either a lull in the demon activity or there's an increase. This . . . This is just normal!" She stopped suddenly and Xander and Willow both ran into her, "Don't you think that's weird?"

"Well . . ." Xander hesitated as he thought about what she was saying, "Yea. It kind of is; where's the apocalypse party goin' on?"

"Maybe we were wrong. Maybe it isn't happening in LA."

Nobody said anything as they walked back to the hotel.

* * *

"You mean . . . you don't think it's going to start here?" Giles, in a classic Giles move, took his glasses off and rubbed them absently on his shirt, than put them back on him face. 

Buffy smirked, "I've been through a lot of these apocalypses and well usually there's some sort of sign. There hasn't been any sign. At all. Nada signs."

Xander added, "ixnay on the ignsays."

Angel walked into the room, "What about your dreams?"

"Well . . . yeah, but they happen in Sunnydale," Buffy dismissed them.

Both Angel and Giles raised their eyebrows pointedly at her.

"Oh! You mean . . . You think . . . Sunnydale?" She said with a slight groan.

Willow looked at Giles, "But . . . isn't the Hellmouth closed, like, permanently?"

"Well, yes, I thought so, but . . ." Giles was confused as all the possibilities began to run through his head.

Angel looked pensive, "Just because it's an apocalypse doesn't mean Hell will be on Earth. Apocalypse just means the end of life."

"Even demon life?" Buffy, embittered by her years of servitude to the world, wondered if maybe this was the chance to get rid of all evil.

Buffy looked more thoughtful than she had her entire time in LA and Angel wondered what she could be thinking about. No one would ever have guessed the truth.

* * *

The two beings sat on a couch made of clouds. 

"Is this it then? Will this be the end of everything?"

The other replied, "I doubt it. I have lived a millennia, I expect to live another."

"But she's seriously contemplating allowing it to happen. Seriously contemplating not fighting!"

"It does not matter if she fights."

* * *

"What happened to Dawn?" Angel leaned against the doorway, watching Buffy pound the punching bag. 

1-2-3-1-2-3 she punched with her left fist than her right fist. "She never existed. Dawn never exists. It is night, than it is day. Dawn is a moment of both and than she is gone."

"They took her away from you." Angel understood that pain. "Made everybody forget?"

"No. Everyone remembers her. It. The key. A green ball of energy."

"But her, the girl the one who would watch us from the kitchen window? The girl who snuck out to follow you on patrol? Your sister, do they remember her?"

Buffy grabbed the punching bag to stop it from swinging back and hitting her, "They remember her, but she doesn't seem to evoke any emotion. It was like she was nothing. But she wasn't. She was everything." Her voice broke into a sob and she fell to her knees on the mat, "everything. God, Angel, everything leaves. Everyone leaves. It hurts so much Angel. It hurts so much."

He wrapped his arms around her holding her head to his chest. Her tears soaking through his black silk shirt. "Sometimes we come back. Don't we?" He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to say.

She acted as if she didn't hear it. Continuing to sob until she ran out of tears. Even than she didn't move from her position on the mat and in Angel's arms. Silently they comforted each other.

* * *

"See! I told you!" The being jumped from her seat on the couch. "I told you it would be alright. They'll figure it out. I told you so!" 

The other being, from its position on the couch, looked skeptical, "They do this all the time. Comfort each other. Than they fight. They will never change. They are only human."

"Only?"

"Only."

"They are the **_only_** good that exists on earth. And, remember, **_they_** are the ones we are relying on to save even us. Do you not think that raises them above us? No longer lower beings."

The man on the couch snorted, "Humans."

* * *

Gugulanna, God of Death and War, stood at the edge of the crater. Enlil, the supreme god, ruler over destiny, stood next to him. "This is what caused the problem? A whole in the ground? Could not Ki solve this problem? She is after all in charge of this dirt." He kicked at the ground in childish petulance. 

Enlil smiled half-heartedly, "It is not Gaea who needs fixing. This 'whole in the ground' was caused by war and death. **_You_** are the god of these things."

Gugulanna whined, "Well, couldn't you get Ereshkigal? She rules the underworld. Perhaps she would allow whoever caused this to come back?"

"That is not the problem. Who caused this has both come back and gone again. You are going to work with Inanna. And both of you are going to fix this."

"Fine." Gugulanna and Enlil both faded into the night.

Inanna, goddess of love,sat with her legs crossed at the very center of the crater and soaked in the earths' memory of what use to be. She saw the Bronze and the Starbucks. She saw the house where the little witch had lived and the house where a mere human had become something more. She saw the Slayer's home and home of the green ball of energy who had become something both more and less. None of these were just buildings, they were family and friends, memories come and gone.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

A/N Justa note to say that the gods used in the last chapter are Sumerian.

Also, just asking, but is anybody else not liking the Buffy I've created? I'm kind of tired of her crying. I'm trying to fix her.. .Really!

**Chapter 6**

Buffy slid into her black leather pants, trying to remember who she had been so long ago. She wore a plain black tank-top and over that the jacket Angel had given her back high school. For a long time she had not felt complete, she had not felt happy in almost as long. Since she had waken buried alive she had never slept peacefully again. She had stopped hanging out with her friends. She had changed. Today she hoped to renew her younger self. Although the Bronze no longer existed, Xander, Willow, and she had planned a night at a near-bye club and a movie mocking that would last into the morning hours in hopes of renewing their once family-like relationship.

Together the three walked slowly to the club that was only about 3 blocks away, telling each other what had happened to them since leaving Sunnydale. "Okay, so, I walked out of the Wal-mart, and I knew that I was parked in row five, right? So I looked up at the row numbers. Only _every_ row had a little sign on it that said Speed Limit Five! I ended up having to walk down every single row of the parking lot." Xander exaggerated his distress with a 'woe-is-me' hand to his forehead. Buffy and Willow giggled at his distress.

"Hey! Buffy is this it?" Willow pointed to a building on the side street marked.

"Yea. I think so. Guess we'll see?"

As they had in high school they all crowded into a table with their mochas and cappuccino's in hand. Buffy was soon dragged onto the dance floor by Xander, leaving Willow to watch the table and laugh at Xander's flailing and Buffy's pretended embarrassment. Xander soon came back for refreshments worn-out

"Where'd Buffy go?" Willow looked up at Xander, who was taller and might be able to see her in the crowd.

"She's still dancing. Man that girls got stamina!" He said without even looking.

"No, I mean, I could see her before, now I don't."

Xander scanned the dance floor and when he didn't see her either told Willow, "Maybe she went to the bathroom, or saw a vampire?"

"Yea, I guess. I mean she**_ is_** the slayer, right?"

"One of many." Xander answered smiling reassuringly at his best friend.

* * *

Buffy slumped almost immediately as the needle poked into her arm. She was caught by a plain looking vampire who quickly carried her out of the club. 

He tossed her into the cage than looked up at his sire, "so, what are we gonna' do with her now, Boss?"

"Nothing. We'll keep her drugged and away from Angelus and her friends. That is all we were hired to do."

"But Boss . . . Slayer blood!" The vampire whined.

"Nothing!" His voice echoed with the sound of the demon as his face changed in anger towards the cringing vampire.

* * *

"She's not back yet. Xander, I'm worried. What if—" 

Xander interrupted before she could finish, "She's the slayer. She's Buffy. She'll be okay."

"It's been almost an hour, Xander. She's not coming back. Something . . . someone took her. She may be dead!"

"Let's go back to the Hotel, maybe she decided to leave."

Willow looked at him in doubt, "Without telling us?"

"Yea, you're probably right." He looked kind of sheepish at even having suggested that Buffy would leave without telling them, "But, still, Giles is as the hotel, and Angel too."

* * *

"You mean to say that she just disappeared. And you didn't come straight here?" Giles was amazed at their stupidity. 

They both shrugged and Xander defended them, "We just figured she had disappeared into the alley with a vampire, and she doesn't need our help with just one vamp Giles, at least, she never has before."

Giles grimaced, "No she hasn't has she. Especially lately, vampires are the easiest battles she's fought in a long, long time."

"Giles, where's Angel? Shouldn't he know?" Willow asked shyly, remind both Xander and Giles of her sixteen year old self.

"He left here a little over an hour ago. He didn't say where he went though."

"Oh." She added disappointedly, "I thought maybe he'd be able to, like, track her or something."

"Yes, that would be rather handy wouldn't it?"

* * *

Buffy hurt. 

Buffy couldn't see.

"Angel?" She whispered her voice sore for reasons unknown to her foggy brain.

"Hey Buff."

No . . . No . . . No no no no no. Her mind began sobbing the word over and over. This couldn't be happening. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real.

* * *

"Tick-tock. Tick-tock." The vampire stood in front of the cage as the small girl began screaming in her slumber, she would wake up soon and he would have to give her another injection, but he couldn't do it a moment before she was awake. He didn't understand the science of it, but the man who had given it to him had told him that it wouldn't work if she was already asleep. He didn't want to risk an angry slayer. 

"tick-tock. Tick-tock."

* * *

"Wake-up Buff. Face the world. It's a fun place. Really." His face morphed and blood dripped from his mouth as he grinned at her. 

"I can kill you."

"Not if you don't wake up Buff."

"I did kill you."

"Not here lover. Never here." He held his hand to his heart.

"A thousand times I've killed you here." She gestured to the world her mind had created. "A thousand more. Why are you here?"

"To tell you to wake-up. Look at the world. Live in the world." He disappeared into the darkness of her mind.

Buffy slowly blinked, taking in her surroundings. The metal bars glittered in the light provided by a single dim light bulb that hung from the center of the room. There were three vampires in the room with her. One sat in a chair at the door way reading a comic book. Another stood in the corner furthest from her, grinning sadistically at her. The third stood directly in front of the cage holding a small dart gun, "Wakey, wakey." He smiled grimly, pulling the trigger. The drug once again entered her blood stream. Her head slumped and she fell back into her dream world.

TBC

A/N The Xander story is something that seems to happen to me on almost a weekly basis. I swear I've already spent, like, a quarter of my life wandering through parking lots looking for my car. Stupid Car!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Hello. Is this Angel's Investigations?" The woman was dressed in a plain, tailored three piece suit.

"Willow looked up from her place behind the desk, "Yes, it is. Can we help you?"

"Is Angel here?" She walked up to the desk resting her hands on it authoritatively.

"No, he's out right now, but if you tell us what the problem is we can tell him as soon as he gets back." Willow answered, trying to sound as secretarial as she could.

"No," The woman smiled apologetically, "Could I just wait for him?"

"I guess," Willow looked to Xander and Giles for help, "But we don't know how long he'll be out."

Xander snorted and under his breath added, "'Cause he didn't even tell us he was going."

Willow shot a glare at Xander.

The woman smiled at the friendship that these two obviously had and moved towards the couches in the center of the grand room. When she noticed the books all around the table, floor and chairs she glanced at them oddly than asked Giles, "Could I help you, maybe?"

"Probably not, the only books I haven't gone through yet are in Sumerian. So, unless you can read Sumerian…" He drifted off as the text drew his attention.

The woman smiled brightly and shook her blonde hair as she grabbed one of the books, "Funny you should say that," and began reading, than seeming to realize she had no idea what she was reading for, stopped and spoke again, "What am I supposed to be doing with it?"

Xander looked up from his own book, "we're not exactly sure, anything mentioning The End of Days or something similar. Apocalypses, Shanshu, vampires with soul, slayer. Something along those lines."

"Oh. Okay."

They all settled back into their books and the only sounds were the clicking of the Willow on the computer.

* * *

"Okay, so you died. Who cares? Get over it. I did." 

"And I'm supposed to see you as my role model?" Buffy giggled at the thought of Angelus the Role Model.

"Yes!"

Buffy just laughed harder.

"Okay…okay…okay. So, yea, I'm a vampire. Not the best role model for a slayer, I guess. But really, it's been seven years. We're all tired of you moping. If I was alive I wouldn't bother to fight you, or torment you; you aren't worth it anymore. I'd just kill you."

Buffy took it as it was. an insult, "I am too worth torturing!"

"Sorry, Buf. You just don't got that certain oomph anymore."

"I do too!"

"If you did, these vampires who got you here would already be dead, and you'd already be with the quipping. And what's with that? You don't even quip anymore. You're just like wham-bam-thank-you-mam! Don't even stop to talk. Rude is what it is."

Buffy rolled her eyes, but Angelus could tell that he was finally getting to her.

* * *

"She gonna' wake up soon again?" 

"Yea."

"You gonna' shoot her again?"

"Yea."

"Man, why ain't we just killin' her?"

"'Cause."

"Cause why?"

"'Cause the boss said not to!"

"But why?"

"I don't know. Ask him!"

"Never mind."

* * *

Buffy didn't open her eyes this time. She kept her breathing and heart slow and steady, not giving away that she was awake. She could sense the three vampires, they were in the same spots they had been the first time she had woken. The cage was her biggest problem; she knew that it was built to keep vampires in, so most likely it would be strong enough to keep her in as well. She wouldn't be able to bend the bars, or break the bars; she would have to get them to open it somehow. How though? 

"She should be awake. Why isn't she awake?" The vampire began murmuring anxiously.

"Is she pretendin'?" The vampire with the comic book said.

"Ya' think? Could she do that?"

"She's a slayer man. She could do anything!"

"So should I just shoot her again? What if she isn't pretending? What if I shoot her and than the stuff doesn't work?"

Buffy murmured to the guard, "I'm awake."

"Oh." The vampire blinked before realizing that she was indeed, as she said, awake.

He shot her.

* * *

"Dammit! Angelus! How do I get out of the freakin' cage?" 

"Use your brain. You do still have one, right?"

Buffy glared at him and he smirked.

"It's made for vampires, not slayers."

"But vampires are just as strong as me."

"Are they?"

* * *

"Aha!" Giles exclaimed jumping up and spilling several books onto the floor. 

Xander smiled, "Aha?"

The woman in the nice suit smiled back at Xander, "I didn't know people still said Aha."

Giles looked at both of them with his best disapproving parent look.

"The Mouth of Hell shall once again be in the Valley of the Sun." Giles quoted from the book, "That appears at the end of the prophecy the beginning seems to be in another dialect, I don't know what it says."

The woman smiled sweetly and gently took the book away from him, "In hate. In love. In war. Between light and dark. There are two who are both. One fades in Death. Mourning comes. Onelightensin Ashes. The Mouth of Hell shall once again be in the Valley of the Sun."

Giles looked at the woman in awe, "You can read that?"

"Of course. I am Inanna." She blinked out of the building in a flash of blinding white light.

Xander shouted, "Aha! I knew she was a demon! I knew it!"

Willow looked at him doubtfully.

"She flirted with me. Only demons do that! I knew it….I knew it….I knew it!" He continued to dance around the room.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N** This chapters short, even compared to my other short chapters. sorry. Also...if you wanted to review...That would be cool...even if you hate it (although if you hate it, I'd guess you probably stopped reading a while ago...). I'm one of those people who likes to get bills just because they're in the mail and getting mail is fun. : )_

**Chapter 8**

"They have the prophecy." Inanna entered the glacial palace wearing a thick, fur-lined coat. "Why did we have to meet here again? You know I'm a warm weather person."

"You know that I hate that stupid bikini thing you always wear when we go to your sand castle!"

"Fine. We're meeting there next time, but I'll wear something with a little more cloth to it!"

"You better be!" Inanna and Gugulanna glared at each other for a brief moment before starting a conversation again.

"I've prepared the vampires. They've captured the slayer, therefore detaining her and Angel, as he is currently searching for her."

"Good. She's set to escape soon?"

"Any minute now."

"Good. Where will she meet up with him?"

"They should both hit the main room of the factory at the same time."

"Hmmm. And from there?"

"Set up a little something that will have them running to Sunnydale immediately."

"Good."

* * *

Buffy lunged towards the cage kicking the first vampire through the bars even as she bent them outwards and easily slid through them. 

"Shit!" The comic reading vampire jumped up and ran.

"Yes! The third vampire reached out as if to grab her, but instead she grabbed his extended arm and slammed it back against the bars, hearing the bone in his forearm crack. He ignored the pain and grabbed her with his right arm, attempting to go in for the bite. She let him get close than picked him up and tossed him across the room. He crashed into the cement wall, but quickly got up un-hurt. "Cement won't kill me, girl."

"I haven't been a girl in a very long time." She smiled sweetly, "And I know cement won't kill you, but you see, I don't happen to have any wood on me. Do you?" She pretended to perk up at the idea that he might offer her a stake.

"Stupid Blonde!" He murmured approaching her again.

"Stupid Brunette!" She said happily as she kicked out and nailed him with the wooden heel of her boot.

The first vampire sat up groggily.

"Shoulda' stayed down." She sighed, than staked him with her shoe.

Entering the large room in the front of the building she waved confidently at the vampires, "You know, I use to hate ruining my shoes for slaying, but really? It's kind of funny. Like, staked with a shoe?" She laughed at her own dumb joke simply because she knew no one else would.

There were about 15 vampires and all of them lunged towards her. The boarding across the front windows suddenly broke open and sun streamed through the building turning all of them to ashes. Buffy coughed slightly. And looked around.

"Buffy."

"Angel." Buffy smiled brightly. "Come here often?"

"Like, staked with a shoe? Not even sort of funny Buffy."

"Yes it was! How dare you insult my sister like that?" Dawn rushed through the front door of the factory into Buffy's arms. "Buffy!"

"Dawn. Oh, God, Dawn. Is it really you? Really, really you?" She held her sister fiercely.

Dawn clung to her sister, "They let me come back Buffy. They really let me come back."

Angel interjected, "They who?"

"A guy, a god; he took me in all my green blobiness and made me me again."

Buffy took a step back from her sister and asked doubtfully, "God?"

"Yea. Gogo? Gigi Lana? No, Google Ana? Well, something like that. He had a friend too. Lentil? Entil? Enlil, maybe," she attempted the name, biting her lip in frustration that she couldn't remember for sure, "anyway, he said that I would no longer have the powers of the key. One hundred percent human. That's me! Anyway . . . He's in Sunnydale if you want to talk to him."

Buffy and Angel answered in unison, "Sunnydale?"

* * *

"Finally something's happening! This apocalypse was getting as bloody boring as watching the news!" The man made of marble spoke from his seat on the cloud. 

The woman looked sideways at the man, "There's no need to cuss."

"Yes there bloody hell is! I'm stuck up here 'till those two figure out how to make a good porn!"

"I can't believe I liked you better than Angel."

"Of course you liked me better than that wanker!"

She only raised her eyebrows at him. They both watched on in silence.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N I thought this was really weird, but I went to my stats page and evidently more people have read chapter 8 than people have read chapter 7. Anyway...**

**Thank you people who have reviewed: natural buff buff, Buffy4592 and WriterChick1990. I don't remember if I replied to you or not. So thanks! And last but not least...**

**Sorry about how long it took me to get this chapter out, I had a break last week and went home. I don't have internet at home, therefore, I couldn't post anything...but I did write a couple more chapters...so they be posted soon. I hope.**

**Chapter 9**

"I…I…" Buffy stuttered as she looked over the edge of what used to be the giant and infamous Sunnydale crater.

Angel looked curiously at the cheerful Welcome to Sunnydale sign that had once been swallowed by the collapsing town, "Huh, it seems to have changed a bit since I was here last."

Dawn jumped up and down childishly clapping her hands in joy, "It's back, it's back." She began shaking her sister, "Buffy! It's back! Our home is back!"

Buffy and Angel, who had parked the car alongside of the road as soon as they had begun to see the skyline of a city where the crater should have been, slowly began walking into the city. Both were quiet as they walked down the familiar streets and remembered. Dawn too stared in aweat the buildings that shouldn't be there.

Meandering through the streets they ended in front of Buffy's house. Revello Drive. Neither Buffy nor Angel made any attempt to enter the house; they both stood on sidewalk continuing the silence that had begunwhen they first entered the town. Before they could protest Dawn rushed across the front yard and through the door. She ran through the house, checking out all the rooms; when she found nothing she ran back to the porch and excitedly yelled out to her sister, "Buffy! It's home! Our house! Come on!"

Buffy looked up at Angel almost as if asking his permission. The hidden excitement in her eyes was reminiscent of her sister's, but it was tempered by the many bad things that had happened to the older girl. Before Angel could say anything she ran to her sister and peeked into the house. Wandering through it slowly she checked each room as thoroughly as she could for any type of magical device or demon. When she didn't find anything she smiled happily at her sister than headed back to the door where Angel stood waiting for them. "It's…" Her eyes teared up and she found her self unable to finish the sentence, so she just waved widely at the house knowing that he would understand.

* * *

Spike sat on the couch made of clouds and next to him Illyria stood silently watching. Joyce came into the room carrying two cups. 

"Is that hot coco? With those little marshmallows?" Spikes eyes glittered at the yummy thought.

Joyce nodded her head and handed him the cup, which he quickly accepted and took a sip from. Illyria looked at her cup suspiciously then tasted it. She smiled, "This drink is good. You must make more."

Joyce smiled politely at the bossy women and spoke, "I told the others that it was beginning. They'll probably be joining us very soon."

Even as she said it a beautiful brunette and her newest blonde friend rushed in, "Are we late? Did we miss it?"

"What are you saying of course we didn't miss it, it doesn't start 'till I'm here." The tall brunette frowned then added, "Or maybe that's just parties?"

Spike answered, "Luv, maybe you've forgotten, but you're dead. You've been dead longer than almost any of us. _Everything_ starts without you anymore." He smiled in fake sympathy.

She glared at him in her patented Cordy glare.

* * *

Buffy cautiously picked up the phone, half expecting the whole house to explode, but when it didn't she dialed the phone number of the Hyperion. "Giles?" 

"Buffy? Where are you?"

"Umm. You might not believe this, but…I'm at my house…In Sunnydale."

"Buffy?" Giles questioned, wondering if this was really his slayer, wondering if it was than was she drugged or was there some sort of spell on her, and if it was a spell, what spell could it be. Was a demon playing with her mind like the one that had once convinced her that this world was false and that she actually lived in a mental hospital?

"Yes, Giles. Buffy is me. I am Buffy. And…Adding to the unbelievableness of this phone call; Dawn would like to say hi."

Giles confused by the name repeated, "Dawn? Dawn, the key, Dawn?"

Buffy placatingly replied, "Yes. Dawn, the key, Dawn. Dawn, the sister, Dawn. Dawn the annoying. Dawn the she's taller than me Dawn. That Dawn; my Dawn. She's back. I have a sister again. I have a family again." She handed the phone over to Angel before Giles could start telling her that it was all fake. She wanted to believe; she knew she shouldn't, but she wanted to.

"Hi Giles. It's true. Sunnydale is here. Dawn is here. And we have no clue why. But remember Buffy's dreams happened here. I think we're going to stay here, on what seems to be the front line, and that you guys should stay at the hotel, research and if we fail, become the new front line."

"Right," Giles paused to think a bit, "Check in twice everyday, once in the morning once in the evening. We'll keep you updated on what we find, and you can keep us updated on what you find."

"Alright Giles. Talk to ya' later." Angel hung up the phone and looked towards the two Summers' girls. "They'll research, all we have to do is check-in in the morning and evening. Sound good?"

Dawn, having been quiet for as long as she could asked, "So, what's for dinner?"

* * *

"They're gonna' stop and have dinner? Come on this is an apocalypse. Apocalypse! Don't they know there's no time to stop for dinner?" Gunn yelled at the TV. 

"I don't know. Xander and I once had sex just before an apocalypse, it was very good. I think dinner would be very good too."

Cordelia chipped in, "Yea, ever heard of the Last Supper?"

* * *

Ben's body, somewhat corroded and dirty from being in a coffin for a couple of years suddenly morphed into the beautiful Glory.

* * *

The dust of the Masters bones suddenly lifted from the consecrated ground and began reforming the shape of the old vampire.

* * *

Mayor Wilken's suddenly appeared in the hallway of the old high school, what had been left of him after the explosion was gone.

* * *

Deep in a cave below the University of Sunnydale Adam blinked on. 

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"We found the prophecy. I was so surprised by your previous phone call that I forgot to mention it to you. It says: In hate. In love. In war. Between light and dark. There are two who are both. One fades in Death. Mourning comes. One fades to Ashes. The Mouth of Hell shall once again be in the Valley of the Sun. I don't know if that will help you any, but at least we have it." Giles tried to sound optimistic.

"Yeah. I'll tell Buffy about it, maybe something in it will remind her of something in the dreams she's been having. Anyway, on our side of California, there's not much to say. Although the town is here there doesn't seem to be anyone actually in it. Just buildings and streets, not even a vampire or two. Nobody but us. Buffy wanted to check out the cemeteries tonight. Tell ya' what we find tomorrow. Bye." Angel hung up the phone just as Dawn came in.

She spoke hesitantly, "Buffy says that they don't remember me as much as they should. Do you? I mean do you remember me being annoying and interrupting your kissing Buffy? Do you really remember me? Or am I just a personified thing of energy to you too?"

Angel led her to the swinging chair on the porch, "I remember you. My favorite memory was sneaking you out and getting an ice cream cone. Do you remember that? You had been complaining about me sneaking into Buffy's room and stealing her away to 'do dirty things.' So, one day I snuck into your bedroom—without Buffy—and took you to the ice cream shop. And you told me…"

Dawn interrupted smiling, "I told you that I knew you were just doing it to shut me up about you sneaking into Buffy's room, but that as far as bribes went ice cream and chocolate were good enough for me." Dawn reached across the chair and hugged Angel, "Thanks." She smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek before heading towards the kitchen for breakfast.

Left alone for the first time since showing up in Sunnydale he quickly stood and left the slayer's home.

* * *

Glory stood on the top of the tower, "That bitch! That short little bottle blond bitch! She will suffer. Her and her precious little sister-key." 

Adam stood on the scaffolding a few feet back from the hell goddess, "You speak of the slayer?"

"Yea. What of it?" Glory dared him to answer incorrectly; she wanted to beat something up.

"She has upset my plans as well. She is very unpredictable."

Glory smiled viciously, "You want to…hurt her?"

Adam nodded his head once, "I would like to cause her much pain."

"Good." She waved at him to follow her as she began her descent, "But first…I need a new outfit."

* * *

The Master stood on the stage at the Bronze and spoke to an imaginary audience, "I could have had it all. Ruled the Hellmouth. Lived in style and pleasure. My every need, want, and lust immediately gained. But for her. That girl. That insufferable little girl. She had to go and kill me. How's that as an act against your betters." 

He stepped down the stairs at the side of the stage, joining his invisible throng of admirers, "Aah, but she_ is_ only a girl and how can that be? A mere girl. She would make a wonderful vampire. Don't you think so Angelus?" He twisted suddenly to face the side entrance, where his beloved grandchilde stood.

"I always thought so." He leaned casually against the door frame, "But she's changed since you last saw her. It's been close to 10 years since she 'ground your bones to make her bread." He grinned as he quoted Xander.

"Than you will tell me what has changed. What is different? Where have all the people gone?"

Glory entered through the front door, "That's what I'd like to know. Where are my admirers? Where are the men I control with a mere smile in their direction? Where are the shopkeepers who bring me shoes and dresses?"

Both Angelus and the Master went on guard as the stranger stepped closer, "Who are you?"

"Glorificus." She stated—as if they cared what her name was, they wanted to know what she was.

Angelus dug through the soul's memories for the mention of someone called Glorificus, "Glory? The Hellgod?"

She smiled broadly, "You've heard of me?"

"You killed Buffy."

"I . . . did?"

"No…"Angelus dug through the memoriesof the souled one attempting torememberthe visit from the red-headed witch, "Giles killed you, but it was too late. The portal was open. Buffy jumped into it to close it. She died."

"You mean, the bitch is already dead?"

The Master, too, looked at Angelus, upset that he hadn't mentioned this earlier.

"Na. Buf's alive. The witch revived her. Tore from heaven if you can believe the words of a certain distressed blonde that we all know and hate."

The mayor walked in wiping his hands with a white handkerchief, "That girl ruined my ascension. Can you believe the gall of the 5 ft 2 blonde who barely even passed high school? In my day we wouldn't have let her out of the kitchen."

"Wilkins, nice to see you here. Seems we're having a convention of the big bads of Buffy's life. Who are we missing?" Angelus looked over the growing crowd of bad guys. "I remember something about a cyborg demon named…Adam? And…Willow of course. Can't forget the cute redhead, can we now? And The First. It's not a party without The First."

* * *

Cordelia stomped her foot, "No that's me! It's not a party without _me_!"

* * *

All the bad guys glared at each other, they weren't meant to act as a team; they were solo creatures. They were the ones with minions, they did not get there hands dirty until the very last fight. But here they were. Only Angelus knew what had happened such each of them died. Only the Master had ever killed Buffy. Only Glory had ever remained undefeated. 

"Work together?" Mayor Wilkins smiled the same way that he always smiled, false sincerity showing from every inch of his body.

Unwillingly they all nodded there head in consent. Agreeing that the cause—Buffy's death—was worth a little teamwork.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Angel, where did you go? Dawn said you were on the swing chair when she left for breakfast, but hello? Sun? Ashes? Ringing any bells? You scared me. I didn't know where you were, if the sun had got you!" Buffy yelled at Angel when as he entered the house minutes after the sun had set.

"I…I…I don't remember where. I was on the porch talking with Dawn. She left. Than…I was at the Mansion on Crawford Street and it was sunset."

"You don't remember…like…you were hit on the head? Like a spell?" Buffy was seeing her new found perfect world already falling apart.

"I don't know. I just don't remember anything from Dawn to sunset."

"We better call Giles. Maybe he and the Scoobie's can find something."

Angel just nodded his head.

"Angel! You're okay!" Dawn ran into the hall and jumped in his arms.

"Yea Dawn. Sorry I worried you."

She smiled brightly as she backed out of his arms, "You know what to bribe me with; maybe I'll forgive you."

* * *

"So, remind me again, why are we waiting here? Why are Buffy and Angel the only ones in Sunnydale? If I remember correctly, apocalypses are usually a group effort." Xander was tired of reading old books that smelled funny.

Willow looked up from her own book, "Giles? What are we looking for, have we at least figured out that much yet? Or should I just keep reading until something strikes me?"

Giles was writing on a legal pad, still trying to interpret the prophecy, "Mourning comes. Death. Funeral. Morning comes. Sunrise. Dawn. Dawn comes? But than somebody would already have had to die."

"Giles!"

"Hmm…What?"

Willow groaned, "Have we figured out what we're supposed to be looking for specific references too?"

Giles frowned, "No...not really. I suppose we really just have to wait until something else comes along."

Inanna entered with a flash of light. "Hello all!" She said cheerfully, taking a seat next to Xander.

Xander scooted away as inconspicuously as he could.

"Why are you here?" all three of the researchers asked in unpracticed unison.

"It occurred to me that you might need some help. So…Here I am!"

"Help? For what?" Giles decided to play dumb.

"The End of Days of course. It's upon us. And the End of Days doesn't just mean humans. Flowers, trees, humans, animals, demons, gods. None of us will be here if it goes badly for the good guys. As the representative of one group of Gods I've decided to step in and help." She smiled happily and tucked back a loose strand of white-blonde hair, "First of all I'll help you by saying you're not going to find anything in those books. There's nothing but the prophecy. Second of all I'll help you by telling you not to interfere with the champions in Sunnydale. Third of all I'll help you by telling you that tomorrow everything's gonna' change. You should get some sleep while you can." She left through the front door.

* * *

"I knew it! I knew it! Angelus always shows up. Always!" Cordelia spoke from experience.

Gunn raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

"Well he does!"

"She's right; the poofter has always had a nose for a good time. The man knows his natural disasters and apocalypses." Spike got a dreamy look on his face as he remembered.

Joyce finally spoke up, "But…How exactly has he become Angelus again?"

Anya answered, "Well, usually it's sex or drugs. Hey! Maybe this time it's rock and roll!" When everybody just looked at her blankly she muttered, "Well, I thought it was funny."

"But they haven't had sex yet. Have they? Did I miss it? Why didn't anybody call me? You know that's what I was waiting for!" Spike began glaring at everybody, knowing it was their fault that he had missed it.

"You haven't missed anything Spike. The two of them have hardly even kissed." Cordelia rolled her eyes at the man who was as old as one of her great grandfathers but instead acted like a teenage boy.

"But there haven't been any drugs either, have there? I mean, has someone been slippin' the man some doximall?" Doyle spoke for the first time since entering the viewing room.

"There isn't anybody there to slip him anything. Only Buffy and Dawn, and neither are fans of the hottie in leather pants." Anya spoke knowledgeably.

"So, basically," Joyce deduced from the discussion, "no one knows why my daughter's soul mate has turned evil yet again."

Wesley sniffed a bit, as if insulted by the insinuation that he didn't have an answer, but felt compelled to reply, "That is correct."

Everyone turned back to watch the television and their friends.

* * *

"Well, I must say there are several spells that would mess with one's memories. You've taken part in several of them during your years in Sunnydale."

"Ugh…Did youremind me. Well, if you don't have any good suggestions I'm gonna' go. Talk to ya' later Giles." Buffy hung up the phone and looked into the living room where Angel and Dawn were playing some sort of card game that Dawn had probably made up.

"Dawn, do you remember that spell I did when mom had the tumor? The one that allowed me to see spells?"

"Yes…" Dawn said, unsure of where her sister was going with the mention of that spell.

"Do you think you could find the book? I thought I'd perform it again and check out Sunnydale. Figure out if Angel's lost memory is spell induced, see if the Sunnydale we're living in is a spell. So, do you think you could find the book?"

"Maybe…It's probably in Mom's old room, 'cause that's where we moved you and all your stuff after you died. I'll go check!" Dawn jumped up, abandoning her game to run up the stairs.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

A/N Sorry for the super long delay in getting this next chapter out. I kinda' needed to focus on school for a while. And then after school came work. Work is evil. But I know none of you care. So here's the story...

TWO DAYS LATER

Buffy lay on the grassy ground, each breath was a struggle as she fought with blood rising through her throat. She coughed and the red stained the side of her cheek and the tombstone so close to her head. It was her tombstone. _Buffy Summers / 1986-2001 / She saved the world / a lot._ But this time….this time she didn't. Her failure wouldn't welcome a new slayer to the world because her failure was the end of the world. She thought she might be crying, but she couldn't tell; she was soaked in blood. It was always blood. The memory of Spike telling her that brought a smile to her face, but was quickly turned into a grimace at the pain it caused.

Angel was only a few feet away, valiantly protecting his lover from the masses of swarming creatures. A few feet further away Dawn flickered in and out of dimensions, playing peek-a-boo with evil. But Buffy couldn't see the two people she loved most in the world; she could see the sky through the haze of blood and pain. The moon. Where had she seen the moon before? It was gigantic. It was amazing. It was beautiful. It was….What was it?

Angel screamed her name and she broke into a coughing fit as she attempted to answer. "Don't Buffy. Just conserve your strength. Stay alive Buffy. The first rule of slaying Buffy, remember the first rule of slaying. Stay alive!"

Buffy struggled to take another breath, but it didn't ever come.

Angel felt the moment her heart stopped beating, not through some supernatural connection they shared, but because his heart stopped beating too. A gift so recently given to him, so quickly taken away.

TWO DAYS EARLIER

Buffy walked down the street cautiously, looking for any sign of discrepancy. The last time she had performed this spell she had found out her sister was fake, what would she find out this time? Nothing so far. Everything remained exactly as unreal as it had been before. The town didn't flicker in and out of existence. Nothing did. So real. Surreal.

THREE DAYS LATER

Her body was being burned. That was what her will asked of her friends. She was not coming back this time. Ashes didn't return to being.

Angel towered over her still body, "Buffy? You wanna' put some sunscreen on?" He flashed her a bottle of SPF 50 sunscreen.

"No Way! By the end of today I'm gonna' have me a suntan, a nice beautiful normal suntan.

"Normal?" he sounded doubtful.

Dawn jumped into the space between them, "Never gonna' happen Buffy. You're a goddess. And, sorry to say, that's just not normal." She shook her head slightly as if regretting the fact.

Xander leaned towards the champions from his spot on the large blanket, "yea, Buffy the Goddess!"

Willow leaned in from the other side, "Maybe you should ask for a de-promotion, Buffy the Vampire Slayer sounds much better than Buffy the Goddess."

"Oh, Puh-lease, as if Little Miss Fights a Lot is going to be anything important." Cordy poored some suntanning oil on her skin and began rubbing it down her legs, "Nobody believes in you, you know."

"Yea, Buffy, no churches, synagogues, or other religious stuff in your name. What kind of Goddess are you anyway?"

Buffy stood up slowly and looked across the group of friends, "The eternal, immortal, normal kind." She smiled happier and more peaceful than she had ever been before.

TWO DAYS EARLIER

The sun was rising when Buffy came in the front door, both Angel and Dawn were waiting anxiously in the hallway, "So?"

"What did you see?"

"Did you see anything?"

"Nothing." Buffy sighed, "Absolutely nothing. Everything acted just like it was supposed to be here. I'm gonna' call Giles and tell him. Maybe he found something out or….something…"

"Well…We had another visit from Inanna. She told us that today everything will change and she also warned us from interfering with you guys. Please do be careful Buffy."

"Always am Giles. Always am. Talk to ya' later Giles."

Buffy turned to face Angel and her sister, "Basically nothing. I'm going to go take a nap. Obviously nothing about this apocalypse is going to be a good quick fight."

* * *

_On one side of her Angelus smirked, his dark eyes promising her pain. To the other side was Angel a broad smile that glittered in the sunlight and eyes full of love and laughter and happiness. She was unable to move, left…right…she was stuck. Angel took a step towards her, his hand open in an invitation for her to grab it and come with him into the sunlight. Angelus leaned back against a wall that hadn't been there a moment before. He whispered quietly, "lover." _

_Dawn appeared out of nowhere blocking her view of Angel, "Buffy! Help them!" And then in her place appeared all the people who had died….Tara, Anya, Spike, Doyle,Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Fred/Illyria….Joyce was the last to appear and unlike the others she didn't quickly flash away, she floated up a few feet so she was washed in the glow of the moon from Angelus' side of Buffy. _

"_Just do what you think is best, dear. Don't let anybody tell you different. We….I….Believe in you." _

_And the moon exploded…_

Buffy awoke with a sudden start, "Angel! Dawn!"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N** Alright so this chapter is super short, but I felt the need to seperate it this way from the rest of the story.

Angel and Dawn rushed to Buffy's room when they heard her cry out their names. Angel was first, holding his once lover in his arms as Dawn filled the door way. "Buffy?"

She turned her head towards the vampire with a soul. Her eyes were large, a mix of emotions she hadn't felt since her 17th birthday. She whispered loudly, "It's Angelus."

He looked back at her and his eyes reflected her pain, but also they held the regret of ever having entered this woman's life.

* * *

Buffy walked into the room and smiled. Everyone in the room turned to look at her and a tinge of fear creeped into each one of them. Her body rippled and she morphed into a slightly taller brunette. "The birdies sing…" she grabbed her head as if in torment, "So loud….so loud...they cry warning to the little slayer…Warning….Warning….oh…" she moaned, "So loud."

Angelus followed behind her unafraid of the image of Drusilla, unafraid of The First, "Kill her. Make her suffer. She sent me to hell. She sent all of you to hell. It's her turn."

Drusilla (The First) leaned back against him, "Right you are, my lovely boy. Right you are."

Everyone in the room began to cackle, and then….they began to plan.


End file.
